A Small World
by prone2dementia
Summary: Wolf owes his sister a favor. Fox owes Wolf a favor. Alex owes Fox a favor. And, somehow, Alex ends up spying on Wolf's sister's daughter's boyfriend – who happens to be Tom. Confused yet? Oneshot with sequel.


_With thanks to _Crowlows19_, my lovely beta._

* * *

A Small World

"She's too young."

Nikolas Iashvili, otherwise known as _Wolf_ to some less fortunate individuals, pinched the bridge of his nose before folding the trousers that his sister handed to him. "She's fifteen."

Adamantly, his sister argued, "That's still too young."

"Rebekka, a lot of kids her age are in relationships these days."

"Well, I don't want her to be '_a lot of kids her age_'! I mean, a lot of kids her age are getting pregnant these days!" Rebekka exploded. She had been searching for a reason to explode for quite some time now.

"Becky," the SAS agent reasoned wearily, "you know that your daughter's too smart to do something like that."

"But she's human! And humans make mistakes..."

Sighing, Nikolas folded the blouse he was holding with an automatic gesture. "Give her a little credit, Becks. Hannah's a smart girl."

Feebly, Rebekka said, "But she's only fifteen."

Nikolas did not deign to respond.

His sister gave up folding the laundry altogether, in favor of collapsing into a nearby chair. "The thing is...the thing that worries me is that she _refuses _to let me meet her boyfriend. What am I supposed to think of that?"

Trying his best not to sound condescending or sarcastic, the man replied, "Maybe that she doesn't want her mum breathing down her neck? She's a teenager, Becky. Teenagers like their independence."

"Ugh." Rebekka thrust up her hands. "You're supposed to be on _my _side!"

The well-muscled man sat down as well. "Perhaps if you just explained to Hannah that you're worried—"

"No, that wouldn't work." The brunette female trailed off, before a wide grin lit her face.

Nikolas knew that look. It was the look of a woman with a plan. Nikolas _also _knew the two types of plans his sister formulated: devious or ridiculous. Either way, he was worried.

He asked cautiously, "What are you thinking, now?"

"Well," said Rebekka. "You work for the SAS, right?"

"Becky, you _know _I work for the SAS."

"Then maybe you could check this guy out?" she proposed.

Massaging his temples, the younger of the two replied, "I think you're confusing the SAS with law enforcement. What do you think I can do?"

"You work for the government! Can't you...I don't know...pull a file on this guy?"

The look in Nikolas' eyes said it all. He used the look when Eagle informed him that bed-rest was _absolutely _necessary, when Snake messed with their communications equipment for 'a bit of harmless fun', and when Fox revealed that he was transferring to MI6. He also seemed to use it a lot whenever Cub was involved. It was the _you-are-_not-_serious, there-is-no-way-in-hell-insert-appropriate-words-here_ look, albeit less potent than the ones his teammates were often subjected to.

Rebekka refused to be deterred. "Can't you just check this boy out? Or get one of your friends to do it! ...Don't you know some government people?"

"Becky—"

"Please, Nick? You owe me for that time I bailed you out of jail."

The man flushed a bright red. "That was six years ago!"

"But still," Rebekka said, resolute

Half-heartedly, Nikolas retorted, knowing that it was impossible to dissuade his stubborn sister. "But look at what I'm doing right now! I'm helping you with the laundry. That counts for something, doesn't it?"

The knowledge that their macho leader was doing housework would have sent any of his SAS buddies scrambling for a camera. The blackmail opportunity was just too good to pass up.

"Psh," she dismissively waved off his words. "Just do it for me. Please? I'm your favorite sister."

"You're my _only _sister."

"Exactly."

He was unable to follow the logic in their argument but, for some reason, felt distinctly that he had lost.

* * *

"What am I going to do?" Wolf complained.

Presently, every member of K-Unit (except for the new addition, Bear, and the unofficial fifth member, Cub) was residing within the flat he and Ben shared. Samuel Delacruz, or Eagle, was sitting on the counter. David Marks, also known as Snake, was propped up against a cabinet. Ben Daniels and Nikolas were at the kitchen table. The previous three men found their leader's distress amusing and were not making any effort to hide their mirth.

"Nothing?" Snake offered.

Groaning with exasperation, Nikolas asked, "Have you been listening to me at all?"

The fair-haired man grinned cheekily. "No, not really."

"It's your own fault," said Samuel, the team medic. "If you never got into jail, you never would've needed your sister to bail you out... What were you in jail for in the first place?"

"Beating up a baby, most likely," Dave snickered.

"Not funny." Wolf sighed. "I owe my sister, but that's not the only reason I'm helping her. She _is_ over-protective for a reason. Her first child..."

The man trailed off, and by way of tacit communication, the other three decided to remain quiet. Discussing Wolf's nephew, who'd been kidnapped at the age of four, was considered dangerous territory.

After a long moment, the glaze that had found its way into Nikolas' eyes dispersed, and he asked, "Ben, you work for the SIS now, don't you?"

Ben affected seriousness. "If I told you, then I'd have to kill you."

"Stop with the clichés," the team leader scoffed. "So you can get the boy's information, right? Maybe check him out?"

The dark-haired man snorted. "You think it's _that_ easy? MI6 works on a need-to-know basis. They don't give you _any_ information unless they have to, no matter the rank."

"But can't you pull some favors?" Nikolas' voice bordered on desperation.

A thoughtful expression crossed the agent's face as he absentmindedly scratched his arm. "Well...I _do_ know one agent who could help. He happens to be one of MI6's best _and_ he owes me a favor."

Eagle's eyebrows rose, slightly impressed. "Really? You know a higher level agent?"

"Yup." Ben checked the time on his watch. 5:15. "But I'm not sure that I want to bother him."

Wolf's face fell. "Please? Can you ask him to look into the kid?"

"Er..."

"You owe me for that time in Medina. Remember the incident with the goat and the girl who refus—"

"Oh, _fine_," Ben acquiesced as he pulled out his mobile.

* * *

"_I'm bringing sexy back...Yeah...Them other boys don't know how to act_..."

Frowning, Alex ruffled through his duffel and proceeded to fish out his mobile, a thin black device conveniently provided by Smithers. It seemed that Tom had, _once again_, messed with his ringtone.

"Hello?" he asked, fiddling with the lock on his bicycle. Normally, he would be riding home with Tom, but his friend had set up plans today with his new girlfriend. Hannah or something.

"_Hey, Alex_."

The lock fell limp in his hand as he paused to analyze the voice. Familiar. A bit nervous but otherwise relaxed.

Alex smiled. "'Lo, Ben. How are you doing? How's the shoulder?"

"_I'm healing just fine. Thanks for asking._"

"Yeah, I sent you a card. Don't know if you got it."

"_I got it, all right. I mean, if I hadn't, I wouldn't have known your number."_

That was true. In Alex's get-well card, he had indeed scrawled down his phone number with the message of 'call if you need anything'.

"_But, listen, I called because I kind of need a favor from you."_

Apparently, the other man had taken his words to heart.

Alex laughed, "Yeah, I figured. No one calls me just to chat these days." The last sentence was said with exaggerated lamentation.

Ben chuckled. "_Well, I need you to do a bit of spying for me because..."_

The voice faded away, and Alex could almost see Ben's eyebrows furrowing as he pondered the best way to explain things.

"...Because?" he prompted.

There was a pause.

"_Er, the situation's actually a bit complicated._"

Feeling uncharacteristically gracious—he'd scored twice in his football match, earned a perfect score on his maths test, and truly owed Ben a favor—the youth offered, "Where are you right now? London? If I'm in the neighborhood, I could probably come over."

Ben's relief was palpable through the phone as he rattled off his current location, but Alex could hear another indignant voice in the background exclaiming, "_You're going to give an agent our address just like that?_"

The voice was uncomfortably familiar, but the teenage spy could not assign it an identity. The knowledge lurked in the shadowy recesses of his brain, irking him.

"Who's that in the background?"

"_Oh. Er. A mutual acquaintance. Yeah._"

Alex frowned. A mutual acquaintance of _two_ MI6 agents? He didn't like the sound of that.

Almost as if he could read the teen's mind, Ben quickly assured, "_You aren't walking into a trap or anything, Alex_. _Don't worry._"

"If I was, I doubt you would say differently. But my curiosity's piqued, I admit. So, I'll see you in a bit."

"_Right. See you_."

* * *

"How could you just give our location away? We have code names for a reason, y'know! To protect us, remember? And here you go, informing some random agent—"

Ben, who was accustomed to angry outbursts from his former leader, lost none of his composure. "He's hardly random. I really trust this guy."

"I have to agree with Nick, though," Eagle said calmly. "That wasn't the wisest course of action. And what did you mean by 'hardly random'?"

A grin crossed Ben's face. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. You'll just have to wait and see. Remember that saying? Good things come to those who wait?"

"And bad things come to those who scheme." Nikolas glowered suspiciously. He _really_ did not like the expression on his companion's face.

Lightly, the SIS operator shrugged, stating succinctly, "I think it will be worth it."

A reunion between K-Unit and Cub? He didn't _think_ it would be worth it; he _knew_ it would be worth it.

Generally considered to have the most brains out of the four despite also having the most brawn, Samuel—Eagle—said reasonably, "We'll trust that you know what you're doing, but if you break our trust..." He concluded his words with a warning look.

Quickly catching on, Wolf nodded. "Yeah, Ben. A team is built on trust. If you let us down, we wouldn't be able to think of you as part of our team anymore."

Snake let out a snort. "You forget that Ben's not part of our team now."

Before anyone could respond, the doorbell rang.

"That should be the agent," Ben said, perking up. "I'll go get the door."

The three other men watched as he walked out of the kitchen. Then they all jumped up from their positions, sneaking to the living room. There, the group would have a perfect view of the scene.

But when the door swung open, they realized that they did _not_ have a perfect view. Ben's body was blocking most of the figure that stood at the entrance. They could only see an unnaturally bulky outline and a flash of gold that suggested the agent was fair-haired.

"Alex! Good to see you again!"

"Hey, Ben."

Simultaneously, the three SAS members blanched. Though Cub had rarely spoken at Brecon Beacons, all of them recognized the unorthodox fifth member's voice. Wide-eyed and astonished, Wolf, Snake and Eagle looked at each other as they processed what was going on.

Cub—_Cub_—was the higher-level agent.

"Why don't you come in?" Ben stepped out of the doorway, and a face peered in.

Blonde hair, brown eyes, handsome. It was Cub, all right.

The teenager's features morphed quickly from curiosity, to recognition, to shock, to wariness, and then abruptly his face went blank. There were no obvious indicators, but it was apparent to the three K-Unit members that he was dangerous. Perhaps it was the tense lines in his body, revealing how alert and ready he was, or perhaps it was the cold way he studied them. Either way, his powerful air was completely incongruous with his innocent appearance. A schoolbag hung limply from one shoulder while a duffel was haphazardly thrown over the other. He wore a rumpled football uniform, slightly dirtied from grass, dirt and sweat, and his hair was ruffled from the bike ride over. If they had passed him in the streets or on the tube, they would not have spared him a second glance.

He looked just like any other schoolboy.

But there was no doubt in any of the SAS men's minds; Cub was _much _more than just an ordinary schoolboy.

Turning to Ben, Alex said slowly in an _I'm-trying-to-be-reasonable-here-I-really-am-dammit! _way, "This is what you meant by mutual acquaintances?" He chuckled without humor before continuing, "You have thirty seconds to explain what _exactly _is going on, Ben."

It was unnecessary for him to voice the second part of his thoughts: _Or I'll kill you and donate your organs to science_. Ben was able to deduce as much from the scary calm that had taken hold of the boy. He gulped and was about to reply before Wolf cut him off.

Alex's words had snapped the other three men out of their shocked states, and Nikolas was able to summarize all of their feelings into one concise exclamation, "What the _hell, _Ben? _Cub's _the agent?"

"Erm, yeah." Ben didn't know whether to wince or laugh. "Why don't you take a seat, Alex?"

Stiffly, the youth walked over to the single chair opposite the rest of K-Unit.

"Long time no see, huh, Cub?" Snake tried to make conversation.

Alex wasn't in the mood for conversation, but for courtesy's sake, he bit back the retort of '_Not long enough_'.

Instead, he shrugged, emitted a noncommittal _hm_, and sent his next words towards Ben. "Explain."

The way in which he folded his arms was two parts _teenager _and three parts _intimidating._

Ben glanced over at K-Unit. Wolf looked thunderous, Eagle was frowning, and Snake seemed thoroughly amused. Well, no help there...

"You see—"

"No, I _don't _see," Alex muttered, but gestured for the older man to continue.

"—Wolf owed his _sister _a favor, but this favor wasn't something he could do. So he asked me because I owed _him _a favor, but this favor wasn't something I could do. So I'm asking you because you owe _me_ a favor."

Dryly, the fair-haired boy asked, "If both you _and _Wolf could not complete this task, then what makes you think _I_ can?"

"You're a legend in MI6," Ben asserted without missing a beat.

"Really?" Snake inquired with interest.

Everyone ignored him.

Alex frowned. "No one's supposed to know about me."

"Obviously, _because _no one's supposed to know, everyone does!" said Ben.

Wolf experienced a moment of déjà vu, as he was unable to comprehend the logic, once again.

"_Obviously_? And what is the definition of 'obvious' in Ben-Daniels-speak?" Seeing the sheepish look on the older agent's face, Alex sighed and. "Look. Forget it. Just tell me what I have to do."

"Er, to put it simply, we need you to get as much information as you can about Wolf's sister's daughter's boyfriend... He's about your age."

Silence. Then:

"That's. It?" Alex sounded slightly strangled. His eyes broadcasted one thought: _Are you _kidding_ me?_

More silence. And then:

"Um, yeah."

"That's it," Alex said flatly. "_You _want _me _to spy on a _civilian _who's about _my age?_"

"...Yeah."

"Because you couldn't do it yourself."

Ben turned a bit pink. "Yeah."

The younger spy leapt to his feet. "I—I can't believe this!"

He passed a hand through his blonde locks, unable to decide if he was incredulous, exasperated, amused, or annoyed. It was probably a combination of the four.

K-Unit exchanged wary glances. Throughout the whole exchange, Alex had been unnaturally calm. They had all worried that it was the _calm before the storm_. Now, however, they were worried that Alex had passed through _calm _and into _storm._

But Alex didn't explode. Control was something he had learned early on during his career with MI6.

Taking a deep breath, he said, "Okay then. Okay. Who's this guy that you want me to spy on?"

"Gimme a moment." Wolf stood up, walked to the kitchen, and returned moments later with a folded note clasped in his hands.

Silently, Alex took the paper from him and unfolded it carefully. Two words were written on the inside in a careless yet beautiful script.

_Tom Harris._

The boy started to shake. K-Unit's looks of anticipation turned into looks of concern.

"_What's wrong with him?_" Eagle mouthed.

Wolf shrugged in the universal gesture for _'dunno'_. "Cub, you all right?"

The aforementioned youth looked up, and they realized that the violent trembling was actually silent laughter. Soon, the silent laughter was not so silent anymore, and Alex succumbed to hysterical guffaws.

"_What's _wrong _with him?_" Eagle mouthed once more.

"Er, Alex?" Ben asked cautiously.

The laughter died down, and the teen spy managed to say in between snickers, "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Say...does Wolf's sister's daughter's name happen to be Hannah?"

Suspiciously, Wolf replied, "It is. How did you kn—"

His words were halted when strains of a well-known song floated through the air.

"_I'm bringing sexy back...Yeah...Them other boys don't know how to act_..."

Alex flushed crimson and started to dig around in his duffel. He pulled out his mobile and pressed talk.

"'Lo?"

A pause. The voice on the other end of the line sounded unmistakably female, but her words were not discernible.

"I'm fine, Jack."

Another pause, and then Alex sighed.

"Really. I haven't been kidnapped... No... No... I _haven't _blown anything up, I swear."

At those words, four pairs of eyebrows rose in disbelief.

Cub continued, "I'm not at 'the bank'. Don't worry... I'm at an acquaintance's place... Okay, I'm on my way home."

Sighing, Alex ended the call and dropped his phone back into his bag. When he finished, he found himself on the receiving end of several incredulous stares.

"_Sexy Back?_ By _Justin Timberlake_? I thought you would've had better taste than _that, _Alex," Snake finally said with a smirk.

Grimacing, the fair-haired boy defended himself, "It's not my fault. I've got a friend who likes to play around with my ringtone." A devious smile then spread over Alex's face, and K-Unit shifted uncomfortably at the sight. "But this friend is in for some _major _retribution."

Alex didn't laugh evilly. No, that would have been too clichéd for him. Instead, he grinned. Very sinisterly.

"Well, that was my guardian, and she says I have to get home." The fourteen-year-old walked to the door. "Expect to receive some information about this boy in the mail. It should get to you within a couple of days... Bye."

He saluted them almost mockingly and let himself out.

"I'll be praying for that kid who messed with his mobile," Wolf said when the door shut.

Eagle said a little worriedly, "Did you hear what he was saying to his guardian? '_I haven't been kidnapped. I haven't blown anything up_.' He makes it sound like that stuff happens to him all the time."

"I'll bet it does," the man formerly known as Fox commented.

"Hey, what was it that he owed you for, anyway?" Snake asked inquisitively.

Ben opened his mouth...and then shut it. "Er, it's classified."

Snorting, the team-leader responded, "When did you start listening to the rules?"

"Yeah, Ben," Snake goaded. "C'mon. Tell us."

Helplessly, the SIS agent looked over at Eagle. Even _he_, the most sensible one of them all, looked interested. Realizing that he would not be able to escape interrogation any time soon, Ben acceded:

"Well, there were these organ harvesters and..."

* * *

A few days later, Wolf, Snake and Eagle were once again assembled, this time in the living room. Clutching a plain envelope with no return address, Ben walked in and greeted them.

"What've you got there?" Eagle asked.

Shrugging, Ben opened the envelope and dumped out its contents. A manila folder, a note and a disc clattered onto his mahogany end table. Snake snatched up the paper before the rest of them and proceeded to read it aloud:

"_Ben,_

_You were shot because of me and getting this stuff was hardly difficult. You can still call me for a favor, but NOT during the week of finals. Got that? Good._

_You're welcome._

_A.R_."

The Scotsman dropped the paper and asked, "You got shot because of this kid? You never mentioned that part!"

"Er..."

Meanwhile, Wolf had flipped open the folder to find a file that looked similar to a school record. In fact, he realized that it _was_ a school record when he caught sight of the letterhead: Brookland School. It detailed Tom Harris' age, weight, appearance, address, family status, grades...

Eagle read the information over his leader's shoulders. "I hope Cub didn't have to hack into anything to get this file."

"As long as he didn't get caught, I don't really care." Nikolas paged through the report.

The last page was markedly different from the rest, entitled '_Everything You Would Ever Want to Know about Tom Harris_'.

"Slept with a nightlight until the age of ten... Lost his first kiss to a boy during an unfortunate game of spin-the-bottle... Is afraid of automatic umbrellas... Collects oddly shaped and/or colored paperclips...?" Wolf read, skepticism coloring his voice. "I bet half this stuff is made up!"

Ben, who was chortling in the background, inserted the gleaming disc into his DVD player. When he saw that all of the attention had been directed toward him, he pressed play, and the television monitor flickered to life.

The resolution was passable, and the video was probably shot with a home video camera. As the four men watched, the screen zoomed in on two figures. One was a short boy who had a head of spiked, black hair. The other was a girl who distinctly resembled Wolf. They sat on a park bench, chatting amiably. The boy had one arm looped casually over the girl's shoulder.

A crackling white noise drowned out all other sounds as the picture started to shake. The person holding the camera was walking closer and closer to the couple.

Then the boy looked up. "Alex! What are you doing here?"

"Spying on you," an off-screen voice deadpanned.

Snake was unable to hold back a snort of amusement when he heard this.

On screen, the girl was laughing as well.

"So, Tom, this is Alex?" Her boyfriend nodded. "Nice to meet you, Alex. Tom's talked about you."

"Knowing Tom, he probably hasn't said anything good."

Her chocolate-brown eyes lit with mirth.

Her uncle, who was watching the scene, was anything but mirthful.

"Oh, god," Wolf choked out while shaking his head. "They're _friends._ Cub and my niece's boyfriend are _friends_. I should've known..."

Snake quipped, "Guess that's why he was near hysterics when he found out who he was supposed to be spying on."

As one, they turned back to watch the video.

"Really, Alex, what are you doing here?" Tom repeated his question.

"Spying on you," Alex replied once more, making it sound as if it was the most natural occupation in the world.

The dark-haired boy rolled his eyes. In Nikolas and Ben's living room, the four military men did the same.

"Fine. You're spying on me. Why?"

"Well...I owed someone a favor, who owed someone else a favor, who owed someone _else_ a favor. And that _last_ 'someone else' happens to be Hannah's mum, who wanted the second to last 'someone else' to check on you 'cos you're her boyfriend. That second to last 'someone else' happens to be Hannah's uncle, who wanted the first 'someone' to do it for him instead. And that first 'someone' is an acquaintance of mine, who wanted me to do it instead. So...yeah..." Alex explained it all in one breath, trailing off a bit awkwardly at the end.

Tom and Hannah stared.

"..."

"Er...," said Hannah.

Tom quickly shook off his daze. "It's the drugs, Hannah. They're getting to his brain."

In a completely serious tone, the young spy answered, "I do believe you're right, Tom."

"Good job, Alex. Admitting the problem is the first step to solving it."

"Er?" Hannah was looking from Tom to Alex's assumed position dubiously. "But the rumors aren't true, are they?"

"Rumors?" the brown-eyed boy inquired, hiding his amusement.

"Well...," Hannah said a bit uncertainly, "the rumors at school."

"Are you referring to the rumors that say I'm a druggie, or the rumors that say I'm in a gang, or the rumors that say I'm about to drop out, or the rumors that say I'm a wimp, or the rumors that—"

Embarrassed, the girl cut him off. "The first one."

At this point, Eagle's concerned words drew his companions' attentions away from the video. "He sounds like he has a very infamous reputation at school. I hope he's capable of dealing with it."

"Don't go all '_psychologist'_ on us now, Sam." Though Nikolas' words were playful, they were also tinged with unease.

On screen, Alex was saying, "Well, if you heard it in a rumor, _of course_ it has to be true."

Hannah seemed slightly unnerved by how serene the other boy sounded. "That's sarcasm, right?"

Tom sighed. "Yes, it _is_ sarcasm. Now why don't you leave us alone, Alex? I mean, are you _trying_ to sabotage my date?"

"Oh, darn. You've uncovered my dastardly plan," Alex said flatly.

A smile returned to the girl's face, and she relaxed visibly.

"Go away, Alex. Can't you tell when you're not wanted?" continued the shorter boy.

"Do you hear that? It's the sound of my shattering heart," Alex said with mock-hurt, sniffling dramatically. "I really thought we had something special together."

"Yeah, yeah," said Tom.

His girlfriend was giggling at their antics.

Alex's next words were directed toward Hannah. "Have fun. If he makes you feel uncomfortable, don't hesitate to yell 'rape'. Oh, and whatever you do, do _not_ let him get a hold of your mobile."

Laughter was heard before the screen went black.

There was a momentary silence as the four men looked at each other, unsure of how to react.

"Cub's a freak," Wolf said finally.

"But a freak in a good way," Ben added.

Snake was waving the page of embarrassing facts about Tom Harris. "Look at the last one on this list: _Likes to mess with people's ringtones, but is now suffering the consequences for it_."

Eagle snorted, "Let it be known that one should _never_ mess with Cub."

Solemnly, the four men agreed.

* * *

Sequel: _Modern Day Scheherazades_

Thank you for reading. Have a great day.


End file.
